Real and Juventus meet in toughest Champions League group

Monaco, Aug 29 (DPA) Real Madrid and resurgent Italian giants Juventus are set to meet in what looks like the toughest group of the forthcoming Champions League campaign following Thursday’s draw in Monaco.The two also confront current UEFA Cup champions Zenit St Petersburg - now another high-spending outfit - in Group H which has Belarus champions Bate Borisov as fourth challenger.

Defending champions Manchester United confront Scottish champions Celtic in what will yield two great clashes between the British clubs, with Spain’s Villareal and Danish champions Aalborg the other Group E representatives.

Last season’s runners-up Chelsea face AS Roma, Bordeaux and Romanians CFR Cluj in Group A, while Inter Milan and Werder Bremen will do battle in Group B along with Greek champions Panathinaikos and the first ever Cypriot outfit to contest the Champions League, Anorthosis Famagusta.

Liverpool face Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, Marseille and the difficult Atletico Madrid in Group D, while in Group F the other French side in the draw Lyon are up against German giants Bayern Munich, Steua Bucharest and a resurgent Fiorentina.

The fourth English side in the draw, Arsenal, are up against FC Porto, Turkish champions Fenerbahce and Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kiev in an awkward-looking Group G, while Group C pits Barcelona and Sporting Lisbon against Basel and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Juve’s administrator, Jean-Claude Blanc, said of his side’s tough-looking group: “For us it’s great to be welcomed back to the Champions League with a classic encounter against Real Madrid.

“But there’s also Zenit, who represent the progression of East European teams. Our players need to remember that they’re playing at the highest level and that Juve are back.”

The all-British duel between Manchester United and Celtic repeats an encounter in the Champions League group stages in 2006/07. Celtic won 1-0 at home but Manchester United were 3-2 winners in the return leg at Old Trafford.

“It was a great event the last time we played,” said United chief executive David Gill.

“Both clubs have passionate fans and we’re looking forward to it. Last time they won (at Celtic) to qualify and we went down to the last game to ensure we went through.

“The players and the fans will already be looking to that fixture on the calendar.”

Celtic chairman John Reid said: “It’s fabulous for Celtic fans. There are no easy groups, there are no free passes in Europe.

“We’re just proud to be Scotland’s representative in there and to be playing the European champions.”